No such thing as absolute freedom, Penang mufti tells G25

Penang mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor says freedom must be balanced with responsibility and limited by laws, religious rules and moral values.

PETALING JAYA: Penang mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor says G25 does not understand the concept of freedom, after the group of former senior civil servants spoke out against Malaysia’s apostasy laws.

Wan Salim said the group could have been sincere when basing their argument on Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution, but stressed that there was no such thing as absolute freedom in this world.

“All freedom must be balanced with responsibility. Freedom must be limited by laws, religious rules and moral values.

“If all these go unheeded, then life would be thrown into chaos. The freedom that we want is the freedom of humanity, not animalistic freedom,” he said in a statement.

In its report on “Administration of Matters Pertaining to Islam”, G25 spoke out against Malaysia’s apostasy laws and said a Muslim’s decision to leave Islam is between that person and God.

It said various state laws penalising apostasy, whether by fines, imprisonment or rehabilitation, were inconsistent with the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.

Under the constitution, states are allowed to control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims.

From the Islamic perspective, G25 noted, no one can be coerced to believe in God.

It said no one should, therefore, be coerced to remain in Islam, although stressing that leaving Islam would be something that was “regrettable”. - FMT